"Um cachorro corre atrás de um gato, e um gato atrás de um rato."
Translation:A dog runs after a cat, and a cat runs after a rat.
39 Comments
I see this contruction (meaning persecution) as "after".. "he's after me" = "ele está atrás de mim", not a fixed thing but a thing coming after me.
De fato Você tem inteira razão, meu mestre! Claro que arranjo desculpa esfarrapada e digo a Você que, como não fui testemunha do fato(cão-que-corre-atrás-de-gato-que-corre-atrás-de-rato), alguém bateu a foto do fato e foi só o que eu vi: a foto do fato, não o fato. E, na foto do fato, de fato lá estavam cão, gato, rato, correndo um atrás do outro, mas paradinhos, paradinhos...Daí embirrei no behind...Obrigado pela ajuda desta semana. Fraterno abraço, extensivo aos familiares.
I'm wondering at what point in Duolingo I will be able to come back to this comment in Portuguese and understand it
Hahaaa.... rolling on the floor laughing!!! Eh, são alguns macetes que encontramos ao compararmos idiomas, o problema é guardá-los em vários idiomas!! Mas aos poucos a gente consegue ;) agora, sua explicação foi genial!! A foto do fato... poderíamos ter fotos em movimento aí ficaria mais fácil. Mas realmente, todos os elementos envolvidos estavam lá :) one running after another!! Big hugs.. cya ;)
From what I can tell, depois seems to be more of a time based concept. For instance, I will wash the dishes after we eat.
Atrás seem to be more about the physical sense of going after/behind (pursuing) as in the sentence for this exercise.
While, come from behind and get behind (which really has several meanings) are both something else entirely. =]
One of the meanings of get behind is also very close to one of the meanings of running behind in that we are late or not on time. In this case atraso (noun) and atrasar (verb) are more fitting.
https://www.linguee.com/portuguese-english/translation/atraso.html
I think the translation they give reads better, but yours should also be accepted. I wrote the same thing as you and got it marked wrong.
The verb "runs" is used elliptically the second time in the original such as the cat runs after a mouse it's true. It should also be elliptical on the written expression.
I think the word "corre" is missing from the second part of the sentence.
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It's missing a comma because it's a kind of ellipsis, as explained in the other post. It's called "zeugma" in Portuguese: E.g:
“O meu pai era paulista / Meu avô, pernambucano (Chico Buarque)" ('My father was paulista (born in the state of São Paulo) / My grandfather, pernambucano (born in the state of Pernambuco)') - the comma indicates the suppression of the same verb ('was' in this case).
Something similar to: 'To be or not... This is the question!' ("..." is used to indicate the suppression of "to be").
Ah, gotcha! I think the English sentence should then be changed, because the same construct is possible in English. Now it seems like in Portuguese you always leave that second verb out if it represents a repeat from the first part of the sentence, while in reality it is not a grammatical must. Or did I misunderstand and -is- it something you -have- to do?
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Nope, you did it right. It's just a matter of "linguistic style": one can repeat it or not...
"Um cachorro corre atrás de um gato e um gato corre atrás de um rato."
"Um cachorro corre atrás de um gato e um gato, atrás de um rato."
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No problem at all! Your question gave me the chance to better clarify my point! Thanx!
I wrote: "A dog runs behind a cat, and a cat behind a mouse." Duo's correction was: "A dog runs after a cat, and a cat chases a mouse." I don't think I'd ever guess that the verb missing in the second clause was "chase." I will have to look up the Portuguese verb "to chase." :)
I received the same correction, and I don't see how we're supposed to get "chase" from this.
Correr/Ir atrás de [alguém] = to go after something, pursue, chase.
https://www.linguee.com/portuguese-english/translation/ir+atr%C3%A1s.html
https://www.linguee.com/portuguese-english/translation/correr+atr%C3%A1s.html
Ryns after, runs behind, chases... in English it's all the same thing and it's frustrating to keep getting this one wrong because I'm not memorizing what duolingo wants.
Hold on a minute! How come suddenly rato can't be mouse? Its been mouse or rat for the past 3 months and this time it decides it had to be rat!
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I believe that the comma should be used after "gato" in the second clause, indicating the suppression of the verb ("corre"). It's an ellipsis in Portuguese... "Um cachorro corre atrás de um gato e um gato, atrás de um rato.". Or it's possible to repeat the verb like English...
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Quite right, I thougt rat at first then remembered that duolingo gives rato as mouse. So I wrote mouse and then got it wrong!
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Also in Portuguese there is a word for rats ("ratos") and another for mice ("camundongos"). As ThanKwee has written, mostly are both used indistinctly, but "rato" is more common...
The comma is needed because the word "and" separates two independent clauses (which can stand alone as complete sentences).
"a dog runs behind a cat and a cat behind a rat" there is no verb in the second phrase (it is understood as in English and need not be stated) if this translation is incorrect, how would one write it in Portuguese?
"detrás" is used when there is no movement, which is not the case here.
Nice explanation. :)
Question: Does "detrás" require "por"? And, what is the difference between, "por detrás" and "por detrás de"?
V! :)
You usually use "detrás de":
- O raciocínio por detrás
desta abordagem parece ser o seguinte...
Most of the time, "por" comes before "detrás". "por detrás de" is used to express the meaning for something to happen.
